Each time the holiday season arrives, yearly traditions like Thanksgiving and Christmas seem to explode. Thanksgiving celebrations are common for American households, and many anticipate the turkey, sides, desserts, football, naps, and the food coma. Many people also wonder why we celebrate Thanksgiving.
In the U.S.A. Thanksgiving is a national holiday, and in 2022, it takes place on Thursday, November 24th. It began in 1621 when the Wampanoag and the Plymouth colonists shared an autumn harvest feast. People acknowledge it as being among the first Thanksgiving festivities in the colonies. The pilgrims celebrated Thanksgiving again in 1623 to commemorate the culmination of a lengthy drought, which threatened the year’s harvest. Governor Bradford had asked people to fast because of the drought. Days of Thanksgiving and fasting on an accessional or yearly basis became common in other settlements in New England.
The Continental Congress set aside one or several days of Thanksgiving annually during the American Revolution. In 1789, George Washington issued the initial Thanksgiving proclamation by the U.S.A.’s national government. In the proclamation, he asked Americans to showcase their gratitude for the happy end of the war of independence and the fact that the U.S. Constitution was successfully ratified. His successors, James Madison and John Quincy Adams, also designated days of giving thanks during their presidencies.
New York is one state that officially adopted a yearly Thanksgiving holiday early. Every state did not celebrated it on the same day. Yet, most people in the American South did not know about the tradition. In 1827, the noted prolific writer and magazine editor Sarah Josepha Hale came up with a campaign to make Thanksgiving a national holiday. For thirty-six years. Sarah published many editorials and sent many letters to politicians like presidents, senators, and governors.
In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln heeded her request. Amid the Civil War, he proclaimed that Americans should celebrate Thanksgiving Day each November. It, therefore, become a national holiday. The president implored every American to ask God to commend his care to everyone who had become an orphan, widow, sufferer, or mourner in the civil strife and to heal the nation’s wounds.
The celebration now lacks some of its original religious significance. It concentrates on preparing and sharing bountiful meals with friends and family. Volunteering is also a common activity that occurs on Thanksgiving. Communities usually host free dinners and hold food drives for the needy.
